The Best Millet Cakes

March 4, 2013

Millet Cakes


I bought a package of millet a while ago and it has been sitting in my kitchen cabinet for months. I really didn’t know what to do with it.
Thing is, millet is a healthy seed. Gluten-free, highly alkaline with lots of fiber, iron, B vitamins, and precious nutrients such as manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium.
I wanted so badly to include it in my diet but didn’t where to begin with.
Last week I finally muster up the courage and began experimenting. To make a long story short, I tried baking muffins with it but it was an utter disaster. I made some sort of porridge/oatmeal; it was so bad it nearly ruined my whole day. I made a bread with millet which was kind of good, nothing too exciting though. Yes, millet is a toughie to cook.
I was ready to throw in the towel but then I went to Cafe’ Ghia in Bushwick, Brooklyn (NYC) for brunch where I had some amazing millet cakes. I dissected them and tried to identify all the ingredients; made a mental note and went home experimenting.
It took me several attempts but in the end I aced it, or at least I think so.
Millet Cakes

These cakes are really good and can be paired with any vegetable or sauce. I’ll let you find how to put them to good use. Nutritionally they’re in a league of their own, low calories, full of fibers, proteins, and (last but not least) gluten-free. Definitely worth a shot! 

The Best Millet Cakes
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Inspired by Cafe Ghia in Brooklyn

Few notes. There’s no skipping toasting the millet. It’s not only about taste, it will make it easier to digest it. Also, cook it well, it’s rather unpleasant to chew raw millet.
I know that whipping egg whites can be painful, but it makes these little cakes much more fluffier and enjoyable to the palate.
I like the taste that sage and rosemary bring, but I guess you can experiment with other fresh herbs.

Ingredients
Makes 22 cakes

1 cup / 7 oz / 200 gr millet
2 cups / 500 ml vegetable broth
3 free range eggs, separated
⅓ cup / 3.5 oz / 100 gr Greek yogurt
2 medium carrots, grated
2 tablespoons olives chopped (or olive tapenade)
1 teaspoon sage, chopped
1 teaspoon rosemary, chopped
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
ground black pepper to taste

Directions

In large skillet over medium heat, dry roast the millet until golden; this will take about 5 to 6 minutes. You’ll know the millet is done when there will be a nice aroma permeating the kitchen (sort of pop-corn like).
In the meantime, in a pot bring the vegetable stock to a rolling boil. Add the roasted millet, turn the heat down, cover with a lid and let simmer for approximately 20 minutes (or until the millet has absorbed all the stock). Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl mix the egg yolks, Greek yogurt, carrots, olives, sage, and rosemary. Stir in the millet, salt and pepper and mix until well incorporated.
In a large bowl of a heavy-duty mixer (or in a bowl with an electric hand mixer), fitted with whisk attachment, whip egg whites with a pinch of salt, starting on low, increasing incrementally to medium speed until soft peaks/trails start to become visible, and the egg white bubbles are very small and uniform, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
Fold the whipped egg whites into the millet mixture.
Heat the olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Scoop 2 tablespoons of mixture into the skillet and with the help of a spoon form small cakes and cook for 4 minutes on each side or until golden.
Serve warm.

Nutrition facts

One millet cake scores 50 calories, 2.1 grams of fat, 6.4 grams of carbs, and 2.1 grams of protein.

6 comments:

  1. I never had millet before...I now want to try this!

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  2. I have some millet in my pantry but wasn't sure what to do with it. I guess I'm gonna give these cakes a go!

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  3. These millet cakes look wonderful!

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  4. I really wish recipes like this didn't include motorized gear half way thru the recipe....I'ma gonna use the blender for egg whites and cross my fingers.... :P p.s. where is the garlic?!!!

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  5. I'm making these right now. First, awesome flavor! I used kalamata olives because... wait, does that need an explanation? Second, I don't have a mixer so I just whisked the egg whites by hand and it is really not that hard. You can whisk and read at the same time and you get a pretty decent tricep workout simultaneously, so that's a win. BUT, I did have to add an extra egg to the mixture after my first batch came out very crumbly. Now they seem to be turing out quite awesomely. Thanks for the recipe! YUM!

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  6. LOVE your recipes btw...my husband and I have been wanting to add some more recipes to our families regulars and we are going to have a lot of fun trying your recipes out! Thanks for the time you put into all this!

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